As the CHP Congress approaches: Ambition and anger

As the CHP Congress approaches, an opposition movement led by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, which is becoming increasingly aggressive, continues to occupy the agenda.

The former chairman of the CHP, without showing any discomfort regarding the unsuccessful management he maintained for 13 years, appears to have set out with unmeasured aggression to overshadow the success of the new administration and return to his seat.

It has been a long time since he left behind the nicknames "Calm Power" and "Gandhi" that were attributed to him in his early days in office. The politician persona that had been crafted over his years in politics has finally given way to his individual and true identity.

Angry, ambitious, and aggressive... Perhaps he is wounded, believes he has been treated unfairly, and is filled with a sense of victimization.

By saying he was never a candidate for the chairmanship, he is seeking to send a message to the delegates.

However, as someone who lived through every minute of the process that led to him becoming the first chairman following the cassette conspiracy, it is impossible not to be astonished by this unnecessary statement.

Kılıçdaroğlu's ambition for the chairmanship and the circulation of his name began between 2002 and 2007, that is, during the 22nd Term, when he took part in the anti-Baykal faction. However, in the 2007 elections, Deniz Baykal not only made him a member of parliament but also paved the way for him to become the Group Deputy Chairman and then the candidate for Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

In the period following Deniz Baykal's resignation, let alone the delegates wanting it, even the CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) learned of his candidacy through a press conference he held on television. He announced his candidacy for the CHP Chairmanship at the press conference and emerged as the elected candidate from the Congress, which he entered as the sole candidate.

Kılıçdaroğlu's "Calm Power" epithet gave way to "Uncontrolled Power" after the 2023 Congress, where he lost the chairmanship.

Yet, while Özgür Özel received 59.44% of the delegates' votes, the former chairman was only able to receive 39.24% and lost his 13-year chairmanship.

The sole reason he was the focus of criticism was not limited to the wrong strategies and failures he pursued in the elections. The transformation process called "New CHP," into which he dragged the CHP, resulted in the Party of the Revolution being severed from its principles and historical mission, and being stripped of its identity and trivialized.

Kılıçdaroğlu has been the architect of an identity erosion in the CHP with a management approach that remained indifferent to the country's transformation into a Political Islamic State, banned his own party from even using the concept of secularism, declared religious sects as civil society organizations, oscillated between conservatism and ethnic nationalism, was at odds with CHP ideology, and relied on the mentorship of co-opted elements.

While the Party of the Revolution moved forward with those who were dismantling the revolution, those who protected the revolution were declared enemies of his unprincipled politics.

The self-sacrificing voters of the CHP carried this burden on their backs for 13 years with bleeding hearts and maintained their support with loyalty.

The former chairman, who gave the first sign that his commitment to democracy hung by a thread during the process of making Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu the presidential candidate, collected suggestions from MPs for a presidential candidate but determined the candidate, whom no one had even heard of, himself, independently and without informing the party organs. He saw no harm in showing the reaction that formed in the party base with the imposition that "they will go to the ballot box willy-nilly."

There are numerous examples showing that the impression that he is open to criticism is merely a perception operation aimed at the public, and that criticism of him within the party resulted in referral to disciplinary action, expulsion, investigation, and not being made a member of parliament.

The difficulties Kılıçdaroğlu experiences in accepting that he lost the chairmanship by delegate votes at the Congress and the reactions given are reaching a very sad dimension.

The tone he displays as a result of the disappointment he experienced and his belief that he was treated unfairly is becoming increasingly harsh in his arguments with journalists.

Expressions he uses such as "donkey, hitman, sycophant, devil, disgrace, sellout, degenerate, pit" show that he has lost control and that his disappointment has turned into anger.

Throughout the history of the CHP, no chairman has used such a tone, even when subjected to very harsh criticism.

However, even heavier than these expressions are his words: "I took this party from the hands of the SCOUNDRELS who directed my party with whiskey glasses in their hands and made it the people's party."

Kılıçdaroğlu thus appears to have gone off the rails to the point of accusing those who served in the period leading up to his own administration of "scoundrelism." Yet, in the founding party of our Republic, which has a glorious century-old history, not a single administrator can be found who fits this description.

The former chairman, who smears the past of the CHP and does not refrain from openly insulting it, has an obligation to explain who these "scoundrels" are.

It is clear that he also needs to engage in self-criticism before making this explanation. Because the co-opted cadres, who were not qualified to inherit the historical legacy of the CHP and who struggled to destroy the Founding Doctrine, were shaped in the skillful (!) hands of the former CHP chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

This assessment is very meaningful in terms of showing that Kılıçdaroğlu could not take the CHP, the Party of the Revolution, Atatürk's party, into his heart.

Ambition and anger build a wall in front of perceiving the truth. They deprive a person of common sense. They cover their mistakes like a cloud of fog.

Moving forward with the suggestions of a self-serving minority causes one to lose the right path.

The legacy left behind by a person who served as Chairman of the CHP for 13 years may be failure and unprincipled management. But it should not be insults, anger, and ambition.

CHP members always want to remember those who have served as chairman of the CHP with respect and love...

I hope the former chairman will not withhold from the devoted CHP members, who supported him for years, the act of healing their wounds by correcting his mistakes and his tone.

Winning respect and trust takes years. But a few words are enough to lose it!